Back in August, Mike Tomlin said his defense would be able to do "historic" things. In the midst of a 26-7 thrashing at the hands of the Bills on Sunday at Acrisure Stadium, Tomlin's defense did something they hadn't done in 50 years.
James Cook led the way on the ground for the Bills with 144 rushing yards on 32 carries, which is bad enough. However, that was just part of allowing a total of 249 yards on the ground, the most rushing yards allowed in Pittsburgh by an opposing team since Sept. 28, 1975 at Three Rivers Stadium, also against Buffalo.
"Not a lot needs to be said," Tomlin said after the game. "That's an awful performance by us."
Cook didn't wait long to set the tone for the night, rattling off a 19-yard gain on the first play from scrimmage:
Now, Joey Porter Jr. had a couple of great tackles in space on Cook in this game, but he blew his contain there. In run defense, cornerbacks are responsible for maintaining the outside in an attempt to force runners back to the inside. With Porter creeping toward the inside, it created a lot of green grass for Cook to run to.
The problems didn't stop there. The Bills ran a heavy helping of the Duo concept, with Cook gaining chunks on runs both up the middle and bouncing to the outside. It was a concept the Bills ran so much that Watt, unsolicited, opened his press conference with comments about it.
"I've never seen a team run the same play as much as they ran it tonight and have as much success as they have," T.J. Watt said after the game. "I'm out of words for it."
The "out of words" comment wasn't exclusive to Watt. Other defensive players seem to be struggling to find answers for the woes that continue to plague them this season.
"It's obviously frustrating," Payton Wilson said. "I feel like we have this conversation quite a bit. We have this conversation every other week, so yeah, it's frustrating. You just gotta put your head down and keep working."
It's easier said than done, but the game plan for this matchup was quite simple. When Cook runs for 100 yards, the Bills were 5-1 heading into this game. They were 2-3 when he's held to 99 yards or less. This defense had to sell out to stop Cook, especially with the Bills being down both of their starting offensive tackles — Dion Dawkins and Spencer Brown. Instead, they not only allowed more yards on the ground at home than they had in 50 years, but it was the catalyst for the Bills to rack up a ridiculous 41:59 in time of possession.
Needless to say, Cook led the way as the Bills emasculated the Steelers' defense. It's one thing to give up a ton of yards or a lot of points. But, to allow an opposing team to keep running the same play multiple times as the means for that success, that's something else entirely.
"You're relying on everyone to just do your job in those moments," Cam Heyward said after the game. "You can beat a dead horse, but we've all gotta get our s--- together on that."
THE ASYLUM
The Big Player: Cook leads 'historic' performance
Back in August, Mike Tomlin said his defense would be able to do "historic" things. In the midst of a 26-7 thrashing at the hands of the Bills on Sunday at Acrisure Stadium, Tomlin's defense did something they hadn't done in 50 years.
James Cook led the way on the ground for the Bills with 144 rushing yards on 32 carries, which is bad enough. However, that was just part of allowing a total of 249 yards on the ground, the most rushing yards allowed in Pittsburgh by an opposing team since Sept. 28, 1975 at Three Rivers Stadium, also against Buffalo.
"Not a lot needs to be said," Tomlin said after the game. "That's an awful performance by us."
Cook didn't wait long to set the tone for the night, rattling off a 19-yard gain on the first play from scrimmage:
Now, Joey Porter Jr. had a couple of great tackles in space on Cook in this game, but he blew his contain there. In run defense, cornerbacks are responsible for maintaining the outside in an attempt to force runners back to the inside. With Porter creeping toward the inside, it created a lot of green grass for Cook to run to.
The problems didn't stop there. The Bills ran a heavy helping of the Duo concept, with Cook gaining chunks on runs both up the middle and bouncing to the outside. It was a concept the Bills ran so much that Watt, unsolicited, opened his press conference with comments about it.
"I've never seen a team run the same play as much as they ran it tonight and have as much success as they have," T.J. Watt said after the game. "I'm out of words for it."
The "out of words" comment wasn't exclusive to Watt. Other defensive players seem to be struggling to find answers for the woes that continue to plague them this season.
"It's obviously frustrating," Payton Wilson said. "I feel like we have this conversation quite a bit. We have this conversation every other week, so yeah, it's frustrating. You just gotta put your head down and keep working."
It's easier said than done, but the game plan for this matchup was quite simple. When Cook runs for 100 yards, the Bills were 5-1 heading into this game. They were 2-3 when he's held to 99 yards or less. This defense had to sell out to stop Cook, especially with the Bills being down both of their starting offensive tackles — Dion Dawkins and Spencer Brown. Instead, they not only allowed more yards on the ground at home than they had in 50 years, but it was the catalyst for the Bills to rack up a ridiculous 41:59 in time of possession.
Needless to say, Cook led the way as the Bills emasculated the Steelers' defense. It's one thing to give up a ton of yards or a lot of points. But, to allow an opposing team to keep running the same play multiple times as the means for that success, that's something else entirely.
"You're relying on everyone to just do your job in those moments," Cam Heyward said after the game. "You can beat a dead horse, but we've all gotta get our s--- together on that."
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